Environment

Interactions between ecosystems and environmental stressors (both natural and man-made) are a major research topic at EMB. We work close to home in the Baltic Sea, but also on the Swedish west coast, East Africa and Asia and are involved in a number of European projects. We work in marine, coastal and terrestrial ecosystems and approach the subject using laboratory, field, modelling and theoretical methods.

One of the department’s strengths is that we take a broad view of environmental issues, taking into account the complexity of processes that are involved. For example, we perform experiments in the field and with multispecies mesocosms, study the effects of multiple contaminants acting simultaneously on organisms, use long-term data series to understand the interplay of multiple factors affecting species abundance over time and use landscape and seascape ecology to examine human impacts on complex systems, as well as how those impacts feeds back to society in terms of ecosystem services.

Scientists at EMB are not only interested in improving our understanding of environmental issues but also in using sound scientific knowledge to help provide solutions to environmental problems, for example: sustainable methods of agriculture and aquaculture; remediation of contaminated or anoxic marine sediments; and advising on fisheries policy and coastal zone management.

Ongoing research with contact people

Fate and effects of toxic substances in the environment

- Ecotoxicology, with a focus on ecosystem processes, realistic environmental conditions, interactions between contaminants and other stressors and environmental factors: Clare Bradshaw, Jonas Gunnarsson, Francisco Nascimento.

- Tropical ecotoxicology, particularly the effects of contaminants in coastal areas: Jonas Gunnarsson, Michael Tedengren.

- Fate and effects of radioactive substances in the environment: Clare Bradshaw, Karolina Stark, Francisco Nascimento.

- Algal toxins (e.g., BMAA and nodularin); synthesis, occurrence, food web transfer and possible connections to human neurogenerative diseases: Ulla Rasmussen, Sara Jonasson, Birgitta Bergman.

- Remediation of contaminated seabeds, Norway: Jonas Gunnarsson.

- Environmental assessment and protection: Karolina Stark, Jonas Gunnarsson, Michael Tedengren.

Fisheries - interactions with the ecosystem

- Baltic Sea fisheries, interactions between fisheries food webs, restocking, food web modelling and long term ecological research (LTER), fisheries management: Sture Hansson, Olle Hjerne.

- Effects of tropical and temperate fisheries on foodwebs and coastal ecosystems, role of connectivity in the seascape: Martin Gullström.

- Impacts of fisheries and marine protected areas on seagrass and coral reef ecosystems: Johan Eklöf.

- Socio-ecological impacts of tropical invertebrate fisheries: Hampus Eriksson.

- Impacts of bottom fishing on sediment and contaminant resuspension: Clare Bradshaw.

Impacts of agriculture and aquaculture, developing sustainable alternatives

- Impacts of forestry and agriculture practices on biodiversity: Kristoffer Hylander, Johan Dalhgren.

- Effects of aquaculture on marine ecosystems, developing sustainable aquaculture practices: Christina Halling, Sofia Wikström, Nils Kautsky, Michael Tedegren, Johan Eklöf

- Invasive species: Sofia Wikström.

- Effects of coastal land use (e.g., chemicals, fertilisers) on marine ecosystems: Michael Tedengren, Jonas Gunnarsson, Linda Kumblad.

- Development of environmentally friendly pesticides: Ulla Rasmussen.

- Integrated pest management to reduce pesticide usage in agriculture, methods for treating plants for enhanced resistance against insects: Lisbeth Jonsson.

- Coastal zone management: Martin Gullström, Hampus Eriksson, Charlotte Berkström, Nils Kautsky, Michael Tedengren, Johan Eklöf

Eutrophication

- Using long time series from monitoring programmes to understand eutrophication effects on plankton dynamics and algal blooms in the Baltic: Helena Höglander, Jakob Walve, Ulf Larsson, Olle Hjerne, Monika Winder.

- Eutrophication and anoxia, remediation methods for improving ecological status of anoxic bottoms: Sven Blomqvist.

- Using remote sensing to help understand eutrophication and its effects: Susanne Kratzer.

- Long term effects of water quality on macrophyte ecosystems in the Baltic: Hans Kautsky.

- Response of phytoplankton periodicity and community body-size distributions to nutrient alterations: Monika Winder, Andrea Downing.